I am not a fan of domain appraisals. I don’t believe in them at all, especially automated domain appraisals that really can’t have a “gut feel” about the value, which is often the most important thing for me when considering a domain name.

In fact, I actually have a template I use when I am trying to buy a domain name and the owner mentions or suggests an appraisal.

Ok, now that this caveat is out of the way, I will admit that I checked out an appraisal on Estibot the other day, and I noticed they now seem to list domain names that are for sale in a manner similar to DomainTools.

The name in the graphic above is owned by iReit, and is currently listed for sale at DomainMarketplace.com. I am not sure what sales platforms are integrated with Estibot, but I checked a Buy Domains-owned name and it had a sales link, but a Sedo listed name did not have the for sale listing.

About The Author: Elliot Silver is an Internet entrepreneur and publisher of DomainInvesting.com. Elliot is also the founder and President of Top Notch Domains, LLC, a company that has sold seven figures worth of domain names in the last five years. Please read the DomainInvesting.com Terms of Use page for additional information about the publisher, website comment policy, disclosures, and conflicts of interest.

Comments (18)

We are proud to work exclusively with NameMedia. We download their inventory daily and present it to our customers as both a comparison of appraisals and to provide an opportunity to buy quality domains.

If you would like your domain names listed for sale on EstiBot, all you have to do is list them on BuyDomains/Afternic.

Yes, we are very excited to have Estibot as a new Afternic Domain Listing Service (DLS) partner. As Luc mentioned, in order to have your names listed on Estibot, you can join Afternic for free and list your names. Names listed on Afternic, will show up on Estibot, as be distributed through more than two dozen DLS partners including many of the top domain registrars.

If you need any assistance with the process, feel free to call us at 1-866-351-9586 (Toll Free) +1 781-839-7990 (Worldwide) or email Afternic at service (at) afternic.com.

I am not a fan of automated appraisals either. And have pointed out publicly how inaccurate and misleading they are.

The domain industry has struggled for years to gain credibility. Unfortunately, automated appraisals are a major contaminate to the industry. They are the equivalent of a Magic 8 ball result sold & marketed in place of real & legitimate valuations. That’s a shame.

I do not trust automated values that are simply gathered by a list of metrics. However despite saying this I think Estibot is a fantastic tool and well worth the $40/month subscription I have. It can help sort through the garbage when looking at a list of domains.

There is no way I’d pay a price for a domain based on what Estibot says alone. However it is an excellent tool for finding great domains

@Pat – “I suspect that a lot of Estibot detractors would just rather not have their bubble burst”

Pat, this is not a personal attack. I am right. Estibot is a novel idea and Luc deserves credit for the accumulated effort/progress so far. However, auto-appraisals are completely unable to factor into their valuation algorithm the more relvant and complex set of variables that feed into a REAL domain name valuation. That’s not an opinion.

It’s also not personal. This reality is especially true for non-commodity, premium level domains whose value is not tied to simple metrics. I have proven and demonstrated large discrepancies in Estibot & other auto-appraisal devices’ results. It;s very easy to demonstrate their inaccuracy.

There is a big legitimacy gap between examining the stats Estibot displays and it then being mass marketed as a valuation tool to thousands of potential buyers, many of whom do not even understand the value of domains.

Because Estibot lacks accuracy & reliability (in the consistency of its results), it frequently misrepresents domain value and skews ALL domains toward the least relevant, but most commonly available, simple metrics. The equivalent of airing back to back Jerry Springer episodes and telling all the world that’s the best of American programming. It’s a distortion.

I for one have been using Estibot off and on for a year or so now and I believe they are constantly improving their services and accuracy of their appraisals all the time. I recently sold 4 names within a weeks time and after back and forth negotiations, I looked back on those names Estibot valuations and I was actually kind of impressed they all 4 sold within $50 of their Estibot appraisal value. I use this value as a starter and then whatever time I spend beyond that I adjust it up (or down sometimes) to what I feel is a good value. Of course I’m not one to put $5000 on all my names and wait for the moon to fly over either. I beleive in good solid sales that pay me for my efforts and give my customers a great valued name as well. I love Estibot – Keep it up guys!

I tend to like Estibot, even if you completely ignored the appraisals, the other tools provide a great value. As for weather or not the appraisals are accurate or not, goes back to the first lesson I learned, when selling a domain it is only worth what someone is willing to pay for it.

Since a lot of the metrics that Estibot uses to value domain can be used with other business models. I feel a few dollars off in valuation can be forgiven. Plus the choice is always yours to decide if the figure is correct.

In regard to “I feel a few dollars off in valuation can be forgiven”. That’s the central issue, i.e. the margin of error is not just a few dollars, it’s often a large amount. This is the accuracy and reliability problem I was alluding to.

@Pat – Domain valuation is complex. You call that snake oil. But this view shows a lack of understanding. The variables that make one domain more desirable (and more valuable) than another range from the simple & predictable (automated appraisal) to intricate (human appraisal that weighs many variables).

If one is buying bubble gum at the local store, there is a finite and predictable price range based on a simple formula. Conversely, if one is buying a Rembrandt at a private Sothebys’ auction, the pricing will be based on an entirely different set of criteria.

Not all domains are the same … so a one-size-fits-all valuation model is not appropriate.

You must use Estibot as one of your metrics, not the only one, to put aside the pure junk that is floating around.

The remaining must be carefully analyzed, but I must say that Estibot saves me a lot of time. When used properly, as a very rough guideline, it’s a very helpful tool, one I use everyday.

Of course it could never be exact (especially when prices are subjective, it depends on the buyer and owner), you must know how to properly use it. The support they offer is also of very high quality and helpful, unlike some big companies we all know, using outsourced employees and cookie-cutter replies.

I would like to add that the new .co domain is a great alternative to .com.

1. Only 500.000 registered until now since the launch in June. 176m.com to compare
2. Google has approved .co as a domain for international use, meaning that their search engine sees .co websites as interesting both for their local and global search engine.

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